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Berlin, Ocean Pines News Worcester County Bayside Gazette Logo Berlin, Ocean Pines News Worcester County Bayside Gazette

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Cement no match for freezing temperatures

By Josh Davis, Associate Editor

(Jan. 4, 2018) Several construction projects in Berlin suffered from weather-related snags last month and should resume shortly, if Mother Nature cooperates.

Town Administrator Laura Allen said last Thursday the Baker Street repaving, the culvert installation on William Street and the installation of prefabricated bathrooms at Dr. William Henry Park were on hold.

“The weather is causing pauses,” she said. “With the sub-freezing temperatures, it makes it challenging.”

Allen does not believe the delays will drive up costs for the town.

The effort to put bathrooms in Henry Park has met with multiple delays over the course of several months, and Town Attorney David Gaskill in December said arbitration with the vendor, Green Flush Technologies, is likely.

“We’re in regular contact with the vendor. It was our hope to get the restrooms in by Jan. 3, but I think with [freezing] temperatures that’s unlikely at this point,” Allen said. “Mediation would be an option. It really depends on to what extent the contractor is unable to deliver the restrooms. Are we talking about a couple of days past the deadline, or are we talking about a couple of weeks?

“Right now, cement is not going to form and there’s nothing we can do about the weather,” she added. “We are sort of limited and so is he, in terms of being able to get the restrooms installed until the weather adjusts itself.”

Barring “an incredible cold snap,” Allen anticipates all three projects will wrap soon. Delays until spring are unlikely, she said.

Allen said some details need to be settled before police personnel can move into the new Berlin Police station near Flower Street and Route 376, but she expects that to occur during the first quarter of 2018.

She said small contract and scheduling issues remain with stormwater improvements on Cedar Avenue, Maple Avenue and Pine Streets, but work should begin during the early part of the year.

The improvements will finish the nearly $2 million in stormwater grants the town received two years ago. Allen said the town would pursue additional grants to make further enhancements.